PokeGov I
by buryode8105
Summary: Before the time of Gym Leaders, a representative for each Pokemon type was chosen to protect Pokemon. These Type Reps now rule as leaders in each element's region. Daniel teams up with a rebel group to fight corruption in the system. Ideals are tested when ancient secrets are discovered and the world is put in more danger than anyone ever imagined.
1. Chapter 1: A History Lesson

**PokeGov I**

UPDATED CHAPTER! I _finally_ fixed this chapter and the following 2 chapters. I also changed a few names (Drew is now Sheen, and Mr. Banks is now Mr. Emmet) because I really like having name meanings match the characters. If you have not read the updated chapters, I suggest that you do!

Welcome to PokeGov I. This story takes place in the Pokemon World before the organized Pokemon League. This story ultimately tells my idea of the history of governments in the PokeWorld. I guess I should mention that I don't own Pokemon, but this story and basically all of the characters are mine.

I really hope you guys enjoy!

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To inhale caused a sharp pain in his already irritated nose. The air was so cold. The icy wind ruffled his messy, dark brown hair. It froze his skin, yet he never stayed cold for long in these mountains. His new, brown and red snow jacket certainly helped. He felt the snow underneath his butt start to melt and soak through his boxers and jeans. His surroundings were beautiful with snow covered pine trees lightly scattered about the snowy, uneven terrain; but he kept his eyes closed. He was waiting.

Gradually he felt his internal warmth being matched by an external warmth. He could feel himself absorbing this new energy. It felt so invigorating; he could feel a power fighting deep inside himself. This sensation seemed to slightly intensify every morning. Something was coming; he could sense the change. He opened his brown-red eyes to the rising sun. The overwhelming light matched the intensity of his eyes and caused them glow a dark red-orange like burning embers. His trusty snorunt hid behind his back to avoid the harsh rays. They say that there are few places with stronger sunrises than the mountains that shined like silver.

After a few minutes, the snorunt's complaints started. Its owner turned back towards it with a smile. "Alright, alright. Let's get going." He lifted the small, cone creature to his shoulder and started his trek back to the humble village of Sleeton, the only place he'd known throughout his entire life.

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As soon as he reached the outskirts of the small town, he heard the unmistakable, raspy voice of his best human friend. "Dan! Daniel Danielson! Where have you been! You've been on the mountaintop again, haven't you? Why do you do that to me? How are we supposed to have morning bonding sessions if you're never in your bed?!"

"That's not my name, Sheen, and sorry. I'm just not that into you," Dan replied with his usual relaxed voice, which was a cool contrast to his friend's rushed speech.

"We'll Daniel Danielson sounds _way_ better than Daniel Dendbury! Seriously, you should invest in a name change. And why ya gotta be sayin' those hurtful words? You cut me deep, man." Sheen clenched at his heart in mock pain before flashing his signature crooked smile with a scheming look in his eyes. Sheen was always making queer jokes to Dan. Dan understood the attempted humor, but nonetheless didn't care for the jokes or many of Sheen's other jokes for that matter.

"There there, I figure you're used to rejection, yeah?" Dan decided to play off the joke with mock comfort. "Besides, I told you I already have a secret lover." He never really knew what to say to his friend, which was never really an issue since Sheen dominated all conversation between the two boys.

Sheen stood for a moment with a dumbfounded look on his face from hearing his friend actually play off of the joke. His wintry, light blue eyes were wide; and his spiked, sky blue hair accented his slightly surprised look. He gained some composure and gave an amused laugh. "Ouch. You're such a meanie sometimes, ya know that?"

Dan returned the wicked-eyes look to his friend. "How do you expect to be lovers if you can't handle the heat? Come on, let's get to school already."

Sheen gave an amused grin and followed.

XXXXX

Daniel took his normal seat towards the side of the classroom as Sheen took the seat between Daniel and the window. Sheen never showed much interest in school and spent most of class staring into the snow-covered mountain peaks. As the remainder of the class filed in, Daniel took note of the teacher standing at the front of the room staring somberly at the floor. _That's weird, _Daniel thought._ I don't think I've ever seen Mr. Emmet in such a solemn mood. He's the coolest, most relaxed teacher in the building. I wonder if something happened.. _

The usual noise from chitchat was absent as the class also realized the abnormal disposition of their teacher. The silence persisted for thirty seconds or so until the clock signaled the start of the period and the teacher looked up.

"Good morning class," Mr. Emmet started with his usual enthusiasm but with a darker, underlying tone. "Today we are going to take a little break from Pokemon migrations across the Silver Mountains and talk a little bit about the origins of human-Pokemon bonds."

The atmosphere filled with a sense of excitement as all of the students looked around in surprise at this random announcement. Even Sheen shifted in his seat. Apparently this wasn't a class he was going to want to daydream through. Daniel loved when Mr. Emmet strayed from class material to discuss more practical matters, but he still felt slightly uneasy from the teacher's demeanor.

"Do you all know about why we have Type Representatives? About why we live peacefully with Pokemon and how we got to that point? Schools teach the basics, but so much is uncertain that we couldn't delve any deeper without making assumptions or accepting unproven theories. We all know how people and Pokemon were once enemies in a constant power struggle over land and resources. Pokemon dominated wherever they wanted since humans had such ineffective weapons compared to the elemental powers of the creatures roaming the earth around them. Frequent battles broke out between the two populations. Man-made weapons never did enough damage to gain any advantage; nevertheless we managed to take many Pokemon lives and obviously had high numbers of casualties on our side. Most fights ultimately resulted in neither side winning, for the land being fought over was destroyed in the process.

"So with this much hostility and destruction, how could people and Pokemon ever possibly come to live together? As we know, the situation sadly took a turn for the worse before any improvements happened. Finally exhausted and frustrated with constant moving and relentless fear of powerful, hostile creatures, people decided to fix their circumstances. We continued to prepare for battle but with a new motive: instead of fighting to kill, we would fight to control. Needless to say, we claimed cruel dominance over the creatures. Once we captured a few, we found ways to harness their power to defeat and capture even more. We were evil in our handling of the Pokemon. We forced them to battle, which was too often a battle to the death. In return they were hostile towards us and frequently attacked their captors. Our retaliations included more violence. Despite our hardships in doing so, we started to decipher the elemental characteristics each monster had and separated them into categories or types. Each type belonged to specific areas and seemed to be more or less effective when placed against other types. We made huge leaps in our understanding of Pokemon and even battling strategies, but we still forced them to fight as our slaves. Through our tyranny, we did protect our Pokemon from their enemies back in the wild, but we were still far from building friendships with our new captives."

He paused for a moment as he prepared to cover a serious matter. The entirety of the group of students was entranced by his words, except for Sheen, who gazed at the teacher warily. He slowly paced around the front of the room, occasionally leaning against random objects to tell different parts of the story.

Mr. Emmet made an effort to speak carefully. "One of the major gray areas in our understanding is what caused the turn of events leading to positive relations between man and Pokemon. We have no concrete evidence of any specific events that occurred around or before this time, but one story that has been passed through generations has become one of the most widely accepted theories as to what sparked this climax in history: The Chansey Sacrifice. The story tells with little detail of a girl who saw potential for friendship with Pokemon. Her name was Chansey, and she became friends with a Pokemon. The two played in the woods in secret until one day her friend was threatened. We don't know the source of the threat, but Chansey was said to have sacrificed her life to save the Pokemon.

"Chansey's example supposedly symbolized a world where humans and Pokemon could actually build relationships and help each other without tyrannical conditions, and her sacrifice softened everyone's hearts. The Chansey Sacrifice just may have been the event that allowed people and Pokemon to try something new, something healthy. Most theories mention a mighty council where representatives from both sides came together to establish peace. Though we don't know most of the issues addressed there, we know that the council agreed that people and Pokemon should work together to help each other build strong communities where both could enjoy safety and a higher standard of living.

"The counsel established a structure in which man and monster could live together, but the representative legendary Pokemon felt that the plan needed more security. They complained that they were contributing more than we were and that we should take partial responsibility for the safety of the Pokemon. If Pokemon were to serve under humans, then people should take care of securing the designed structure."

Mr. Emmet paused again. He looked around the room to confirm that he had every student's attention. At this point he was sitting crisscross on his desk with his elbows on his knees as he used his hands to help emphasize certain points. "_This_," he said with a small jerk to his hands, which were pretending to hold his point as if it were a tangible object, "is why we have Type Representatives. _Simply to secure the peace between human and Pokemon._" If Daniel hadn't been so absorbed in his teacher's words, he probably would have noticed Sheen shrink back into his chair with a look cold enough to feel. "Each Pokemon typing would receive one human to represent the creatures of that type and secure their safety and general well-beings. For mankind's service to Pokemon, these Reps are given the elemental abilities of their type to connect them to the Pokemon and know of their needs."

"Even with the existence of Type Reps, some people still believe that we rule unjustified over Pokemon. Sovereignty can be a dangerous necessity. The decisions we make affect much more than just ourselves. Enslaving Pokemon was probably the only effective solution or at least seemed like the only one, but it caused numerous _new_ predicaments for us and for Pokemon. You guys always complain that history is a useless subject to learn in school, but once again I will remind you that it's only useless to teach if no one learns from it." He paused for a third time to take a quick, quiet breath. "That's all the time we have today. Your homework is to decide for yourself what you will learn from history. I would love to hear someday what you all decide. Until then, make something out of today."

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Daniel was nearly home from school when he finally realized something was off. _Where's Sheen? Wow, how did I not notice actually being able to _think_ while walking home? Geez, it's been a really weird day. _He walked inside his log cabin home to find yet another surprise: his parents were already home.

"Hey mom, hi dad," Daniel greeted cautiously.

"Well good afternoon, son!" His dad replied.. The cheerful response didn't match the worn out expressions on his parents' faces. Mr. Dendbury was a shorter man with an impressive build from long days of heavy labor, and Mrs. Dendbury had a simple but homely appearance. Both shared Daniel's brown hair. "We're glad you're home! We don't have a ton of time, but we thought we'd talk to you sooner rather than later."

"Alright," hesitantly agreed. "What's up?"

His dad's smile started to dissipate. "We have news."

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I hope you liked the first chapter. I greatly appreciate reviews, so let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2: Motivation

**PokeGov I**

UPDATED CHAPTER! I basically rewrote chapters 1-3, so I strongly recommend you read them if you haven't already! Thanks everyone!

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"Well, son, we have news," Mr. Dendbury announced sheepishly.

"You came home from work early just to tell me some news?"

"Something has happened, that I'm sure you would have found out about quickly anyway, but we just wanted to be the ones who told you first and discuss how it will affect our family," Daniel's mother explained.

Daniel only responded with a skeptical look, so his dad continued with the news: "We regret to admit it, but the Ice Gov has relentlessly added new taxes that we cannot currently afford. They've even raised the tuition for your school. Your mother and I have signed up for added shifts at work, but we're afraid that it won't be enough."

Daniel still didn't say anything, but his expression apparently concerned his mother. "Honey, now don't worry," she quickly comforted. "I know how much your schooling means to you, and I think that we can find a way to pay for it soon, just not at the moment.."

Mr. Dendbury decided to take over from where Mrs. Dendbury left off. "Until then, son, we would really appreciate it if you could help with some of the finances. Just as long as these cursed taxes stay in place." Daniel could tell his dad hated the plight that their family now faced. "So what do you say? Do you think you could find some employment for the time being?"

Trying to hide whatever emotions were bubbling within him, Daniel only managed to mutter a simple response of "yeah, of course," but it was enough to comfort his parents.

His dad gave a shaky yet sincere smile and gave Daniel a pat on the back. "Thanks, Daniel. You make us proud."

His mom had tears in her eyes as she embraced her son. "You're a good kid," she praised as she kissed his forehead. "We have to return to work now and probably won't be back until late. You try to relax a little, ok?" They gathered their belongings and headed towards the door. "We're so sorry about all of this. We love you!" Then they left Daniel alone.

"You shouldn't be the ones apologizing," Daniel grunted to himself as his thoughts turned to the Royal Family. _Haven't they burdened us enough? We were barely scraping by to begin with! I wonder if that's why Sheen disappeared after school. He's part of the Royal Family: he can actually do something! But instead he refuses to acknowledge having any relation whenever it comes up, just like a coward. _

He started to feel very warm as his temper rose. _What are they even thinking? What could they possibly be using the money for? Whatever it is, it's not worth all of the suffering that's going to result. It's not like I had any ambitions of going to a university or anything! Gah! Sometimes I could just- _

His thought was interrupted by knocking on the door. He angrily paced to the door and threw it open when his angry tangent came to a sudden end. At the door was a girl whose usual sweet expression was replaced by one of great concern. Her thin, brown hair flowed gently in the wind, and her big brown eyes looked at Daniel with worry followed by curiosity.

"Hana, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked, holding back none of his surprise. Hana and Daniel were only acquaintances and only spoke occasionally. They weren't even in any classes together since she was a year younger than he was.

"Daniel! Why are you all sweaty? Never mind that actually. There's something going on at the school!"

"What? Well come on, let's go!" He grabbed her arm and started running towards the school building.

Hana blushed at Daniel's sudden assertiveness since he was always so quiet; nevertheless, she ran too, despite his grip on her wrist. If it weren't for the serious situation at hand, she might have laughed out loud at his unexpected reaction.

When they arrived at their school, they joined the small gathered crowd.

"What's going on?" Hana whispered to Daniel. A few men in organized uniforms stood by the front door of the school with two large, white bear Pokemon off to the side.

"Those are policemen!" He realized with a hushed tone. He had never seen any before. "It looks like some of them are doing something inside."

They only waited for a few moments until more officers busted out of the door with another figure.

"I think they're arresting someone," Daniel tried to narrate.

The spare policemen came towards the accumulated audience and started to break it up. "Nothing to see here, just some police business. Everyone please head home." A Beartic assisted the officer by threatening to launch an ice beam at anyone who didn't follow orders.

As people started to disperse, Daniel tried to catch a glimpse of who they were arresting. Dodging the scattered people and trying to see past the giant bear monster, he pulled Hana from side to side since he had been too distracted to remember to release her from his hold. He froze in place when he finally saw who was being taken into custody.

After a moment of standing still, Hana snapped Daniel out of his trance. "Daniel, we need to go," she ordered and tugged her arm out of his grip. He nodded in agreement, and they ran into the nearby forest.

Only when they knew they were a safe distance from anyone else did Hana speak. "That was your teacher! You saw him, right? What the heck is going on?" Daniel had no response, for he was just as confused as she was. Neither of them had seen anything like this happen before. "You seriously have no idea? He wasn't acting even slightly weird today?"

He tried to digest what he had just witnessed and leave his state of shock. "I don't know.." Slowly he gained back his ability to think coherent thoughts. "Ok, yeah. Yeah, he was strange today."

"Well? How so?" She persisted.

"He, uh, talked about the history of people and Pokemon coming together."

"That's it? He, your history teacher, talked about history?" She asked dubiously.

"Well, it wasn't the history that we're supposed to be learning about. And I've never seen him teach so somberly," he defended.

"Did he say anything in particular that would mean anything at all?"

Daniel's frustration and confusion grew and warmed his being again. "I- I think so. I don't remember, just let me think for a second!" he snapped.

Hana looked away guiltily and slightly hurt.

Realizing what he'd done, he felt guilt sweep over him. "No, I didn't mean- I'm just confused, alright?" Hana turned and started walking back. Seeing that he wasn't helping threw his mind into an entirely different frenzy. "Hana, wait," he said and started walking with her. "I'm sorry. This has just been the craziest day.."

"No, it's alright. I'm the one who should be sorry: I was being really pushy. It's been a hard day for everyone." She sighed heavily. "Let's just go home. I don't know how you're surviving without a jacket anyway."

He abruptly stopped walking. _How could I be so ignorant? I'm far from the only person struggling with everything that's going on right now. There has to be a way to fix this. _"No, I need to talk to someone," he stated darkly.

His sudden mood change took Hana by surprise. "Huh? Who? Oh, you don't mean-"

He started walking in a new direction. "Daniel! Wait! You can't just talk to a member of the Ice Gov like that! Even if you're his best friend, you don't know how he'll react."

"He's the only who can do anything about anything, and he's sitting around pretending that there has never been a care in the world! I don't care if his dad is the Ice Representative; and if Sheen is next in line, then that's all the more reason for me to try to get him to do something decent with his power!"

"Wait! Just listen to me," She pleaded as she grabbed his arm to halt his walking. "I know that talking to Sheen seems like the only way to fix anything, but you know it's more complicated than that. Stop and think before you do something that will make things even worse!"

Daniel did stop. She was right. He listened to his heart rate slow and then turned to Hana. "Fine. You're right," He admitted. "Let's just go home," he said and started walking again.

Hana followed. Once she thought about it, she was really surprised that Daniel was even talking to her so much. _He's always so quiet. I never knew that he had another side to him._

A few minutes later she finally spoke again. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know what I can do besides go ahead and get a job."

"So you're dropping out of school? I was wondering if that'd be the case.. Well at least you don't have to deal with getting a new teacher. What do you think will happen to Mr. Emmet?"

"I couldn't say; I don't even know what he was arrested for." _What about the Pokemon-people unifications could have gotten him in trouble though? _Daniel thought to himself. Then he remembered it. "You know what? He did talk about the Type Representatives."

"Really? What did he say?" Hana asked, excited for any new information.

"It wasn't much. He summarized their origin and purpose. He said that they exist 'to secure the peace between human and Pokemon.' I don't see how that is offensive to the Royal Family though; we don't have any problems between us and Pokemon."

"Hmm. Yeah, that's kind of odd. The issues that the Royal Ice Family is causing don't even affect Pokemon."

"We're missing something; I just knew what it was."

"Yeah. I guess we just need some time to figure this all out."

"Guess so."

The two walked the rest of the way in silence, both lost in thought and not in the mood to talk anymore. Daniel walked Hana home since it was almost on the way back to his own house.

"Hey, thanks for coming with me today," Hana said instead of going inside.

"Thanks for letting me know something was going on," Daniel replied.

"What are you going to do about Sheen?"

"There's nothing I _can_ do. I don't really think I'll be seeing much of him now anyway, so maybe it's not even a big deal. And who knows? This could all blow over really quickly," he added hopefully.

"Or things could get even worse," she muttered. "Alright, well, I should probably go in now. I'll see you around, ok?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "See you," he said and made his way home.

Hana watched him walk away before sighing and going inside.

Upon walking home, Daniel realized how exhausted he was. _So much for enjoying my night: I already want to go to bed. I should probably get up early anyway, so I can find a job. I never thought I'd start my career so soon. Ice caves are probably my best bet; working there is hard but gives the best pay. And maybe working with my dad could be a good thing. I just wish there was something better to do with my life. I wish I could have finished school. Then I'd at least have _options. _Geez, it's freezing. How did I forget my jacket?_

He looked up to see how much further his house was and found something that sent an icy chill through his already cold body: Sheen was sitting on his lawn's short fencing. Daniel tightly folded his arms to keep warm as he approached his friend.

"What are you doing at my house?" Daniel asked casually.

"What are you doing away from your house?" Sheen countered.

"Just taking a walk. Now do you need something, or can I go to bed?"

"I will never understand what you have against night. What's the big rush to go to bed?"

"I'm tired, and apparently I need to find a job in the morning. Sorry if my life isn't exciting enough for you."

"Not exciting enough? Well now you have it all wrong! I have a great appreciation for your exciting life! And I would hate to see you throw it all down the drain by getting some boring old job," Sheen claimed, clearly hinting at something.

"Well that's why I wanted to finish school. Then I could do something _besides_ working in the ice caves," Daniel replied somewhat grumpily.

"You know what I'm trying to get at! Stop being oblivious! Just accept my job offer already!" Sheen childishly demanded and stomped his foot. He was always good at being a character. "Working in the castle would be perfect! It'd be more play than work, and you'd have full benefits for life!"

Masking his real feelings with already existing pout, Daniel felt embarrassed for forgetting about Sheen's job offer. He had never considered it because school had always been his first option. "I want a _real_ job. You know, one with real world experience?" He smoothly recovered.

"Yeah, because slaving away in a cave is _such_ great worldly experience. If you work for me, you can learn all you want. And if I oh say, start homeschooling, then you can work on it with me. You could even graduate with time to spare." Sheen paused and watched Daniel soak up this new notion.

This possibility really did intrigue Daniel. He never felt comfortable with the idea of working for Sheen, but the offer was starting to make a lot of sense. His mind started to race. _Well why not? What's wrong with taking advantage of a great opportunity? Sheen's pretty dense at times but practically harmless, right? I could keep studying now. Plus, I could save up money and maybe my mom could drop her second job. Then I could go to a university after a few years.. _

Drew could tell his offer was irresistible to his stubborn, simple friend. His grin widened as his eyes darkened slightly. Watching his friend struggle was strangely entertaining to him. He changed his expression to one of playful pleading. "Come on, old buddy. We could have so much fun together!"

Dan managed to clear his head enough answer. "I'll think about. I'm seriously tired though. And cold. I'll see you later," he replied as he walked to his door.

Drew had been suspicious of Dan's lack of jacket but said nothing about it. "If you're cold now, you'll hate the ice caves! I'll be impatiently awaiting your acceptance to my offer." And with that he was off, giving a wave to the air as he walked away.

Daniel lay on his bed again, his mind buzzing. There was something that always helped to calm him down though. He took out a small red and white ball, enlarged it with a click, and released his small companion.

Snorunt squealed in delight at sight of its master. It leaped into Daniel's arms, and the boy tightly hugged the enthused pocket monster.

"Hey little guy. I need your help with something."

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Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3: Possible Allies

**PokeGov I**

UPDATED CHAPTER! This is the last chapter with major updates. I hope this fixes the previous sloppy start to the story. Thanks for reading everyone!

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Daniel really was tired, but sleep eluded him as his mind rushed with ideas of his newly constructed plan. He was waiting for his parents to return from their late nights at work; but with obvious time to spare until their arrival, he finished most of his plan's preparations. His parents returned and found him finally napping on a chair in the front room. He stirred at the sudden motion in the house.

"Daniel? What are you doing out here, honey?" His mom asked weary concern.

"Mom, Dad. How was work?" He replied with a yawn.

"Work was fine," his dad responded. "What's going on, son?"

"I, uh, have a new proposition," he explained while trying to wake up. "I've been thinking about things a lot, and nothing seemed like the right thing to do, so I came up with my own option."

"Can't this wait until morning?" His mom suggested, obviously very worn out from the day's labor.

"I'm sorry, I don't think it can. I want to leave tomorrow."

His dad raised an eyebrow in surprise. "And where exactly are you going tomorrow?"

Daniel took a deep breath. He had no idea how his parents would react to his plan. "I want to travel as a Pokemon trainer."

His mom's confusion replaced her sleepiness. "A what?"

His dad had an understanding of what Daniel meant though. "You mean one of those kids who get himself killed by doing something as stupid as going around and looking for fights with wild Pokemon and hooligans?" He accused harshly.

"Wait, before you shut me down, just listen for a minute!"

"You have sixty seconds," Mr. Dendbury consented unhappily.

"Ok, ok. I know that traveling is a new trend, and it definitely has its dangers, but other nations are starting to comply to the idea. Trainers are only in a lot of danger when they wander out of civilization, but I would be traveling to safe cities. Organizations are starting to set up tournaments that anyone can participate in. The champions become legends and make fortunes. And even if I don't participate in any competitions, I can at least travel and get out of this place!" He tried his best to sound inspiring through his sleepy state. "It's tons cheaper to travel than to live here now anyway. I can train with Snorunt and actually earn myself some independence. I can see the world and learn what other cultures are like, and I can find what kinds of Pokemon are out there. The possibilities are endless! Whatever happens, it would be better than working in the ice caves or working for Sheen." His inspirational tone was turning sour. "I'm running out of options to escape the dead ends that this place forces on everyone. I'm completely defenseless when it comes to anything important! I can't waste away my life here! I just can't.." Daniel felt his face hear up as tears of desperation built up in his eyes. He couldn't look his parents in the eyes, so he settled with staring at the floor.

Mr. and Mrs. Dendbury stood frozen from surprise for a moment as they learned of their son's hidden feelings. The three remained silent as Daniel regained his composure and his parents digested his request. Mr. Dendbury was the one who finally spoke. "Things are happening in this town that make me uneasy. Whether or not you stay, I will be worried about your well-being. I would really hate to have to worry about you while you're away from home, but perhaps I wouldn't have to worry as much if you're building some independence for yourself," he hesitantly thought aloud. "I understand where you're coming from, and I don't want to see you be pushed around your entire life like I have been. I think you should go."

Daniel looked up to his father in surprise and awe. _Is it possible? Could I actually leave?_

"We can't let him go off into the world all alone!" Mrs. Dendbury objected. "It's too dangerous!"

"I think it's his safest choice. If he didn't leave, then he'd be in an entirely different danger working in the Ice Palace. And if he chooses the ice caves, then he might as well be dead," Mr. Dendbury stated gravely.

"You hate the ice caves that much?" Daniel's mother asked full of dread. "Since when? Why didn't you say anything?"

"It doesn't matter why. There's nothing I can do now, but Daniel has a chance to escape the same fate. He should go."

She still looked hesitant. "Is this really what you want to do, Daniel?"

Daniel took a breath to secure his confidence. "Yes. It is."

Disappointingly defeated, his mom sighed. "Then I guess there's not much more to debate."

Daniel felt a huge weight in his core melting into a revitalizing energy that spread throughout his body. His face gave way to a huge grin as tears gathered in his eyes again but for an entirely different reason. "Thanks mom. Thanks dad."

Clearing his throat, Mr. Dendbury tried to avert the emotional atmosphere. "So, uh, you say you want to leave in the morning? Knowing you, it'll be bright and early, right? Or should I say dark and early?"

Daniel gave a small laugh, "Yeah, dark and early."

"Then you should probably get some sleep. It looks like you're all packed, so that's good. We'll wake up with you in the morning."

His smile still going strong, Daniel nodded in consent. "Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning."

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The trek up the mountain had many obstacles, especially in the dark, but Daniel had the path memorized. As he trudged through deep snow and over half buried plants, the boy reflected on his recent goodbyes. Even his dad teared up at his departure, but both of his parents wished him luck. He had a snoring Pokemon on his shoulder and a backpack filled with his supplies. His parents had even given him much of their saved money. With long hugs and kisses, they finally said goodbye. Daniel promised to write them and to come back when he could make a difference.

Daniel heavily considered saying bye to Sheen, but finally decided that doing so would end badly. He felt guilty for not telling his best friend but knew Sheen would probably do something extreme to try to convince him to stay. _I might have to send him a letter once I'm officially off of the mountain, _he compromised.

The ground leveled as Daniel approached his favorite mountain top. He had to fight the urge to close his eyes and wait for the warmth of the sun like most mornings, for he wanted to seize his last opportunity to take in the beauty of these silvery mountains. Breathlessly he gazed upon his surroundings. Light from the sun was starting to glaze the sparkling snow in a shining orange veil. The tall pine trees stood boldly amongst the jagged rocks and hills, as if they were gracing the snow and surroundings with their experience and ancient wisdoms. If one were to look closely enough, he'd spot Pokemon starting to get stirred by the incoming brightness. _I think if the world ended right now, I would die happy. This is more beautiful than any man could ever _dream_ of. I can't imagine that anything I'll find while traveling could ever top this. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see._

Suddenly, for a final time on this mountain top, the light intensified to the point of hurting Daniel's eyes. More intensely than ever before, the external warmth unleashed his internal energy. Daniel was heating up, and his heart started to race. Paralyzed by shock, he fell to his hands and knees. The sleeping Pokemon on his shoulder suddenly awoke as it was launched obliviously to the ground. The snow under Daniel's hands started to melt. Sweat beaded down his head while he sat and tried to keep breathing, having no idea what else to do.

The few minutes it took him to calm down seemed to last hours. The strange sensation evaporated as exhaustion crept in as its replacement. "What the_ hell _was that?" Daniel gasped, exasperated. "What am I supposed to do about this?" He pleaded to the sky. Snorunt gave a worried whimper and hugged his leg.

Daniel gave a hefty sigh and turned to his only Pokemon. "Sorry, Snorunt. I keep doing this, don't I? Maybe we should just work on finding someone who can tell me what the heck is going on."

The little coned creature pouted angrily. "Sno! Snorunt snorunt," it said as it took punches at the air.

Dan smiled. "Well of course we're going to train you too! I'm glad to see you're ready to fight. I think I am too." Snorunt jumped in the air with glee. "Then let's get going!"

XXXXX

Dusk was approaching as a young boy traveled through a familiar but otherwise daunting forest. The mostly bare trees seemed to ooze an eerie warning of danger. It was the kind of place that made people jump at the slightest sound and allow their eyes to spot nonexistent moving shapes and shadows. The wary boy looked around, somewhat amused. _This is absolutely everything I'd imagine in a stereotypical haunted forest. Almost comical, isn't it? Except under the right conditions, this place would hold legitimate threats. I guess I better not let that happen. _

Putting down his jacket's hood, the boy revealed messy bleach blond hair as he approached an impressive structure of dark purple bricks. His face gave away no emotion as his vibrant, blue eyes glanced at the castle's intricate exterior designs. The adolescent gave a few powerful pounds to the castle's huge, delicately crafted doors. Even after disturbing the forest's unnatural silence with surprisingly loud knocks, the adolescent stood unfazed.

With harsh creaks one of the doors opened and revealed a young man dressed a casual, dark purple uniform with the official Ghost Government emblem, a cursive "G," inscribed near the top, right corner of the shirt. The guard greeted the guest with informal politeness, "Master Cindeo, always a pleasure. I'll inform Master Tonraq of your arrival."

The boy's serious composure dispersed as he grinned, waved, and hollered at the guard, "Thanks, Dilan!" The boy finished his disposition's complete reverse as he slumped into an antique couch and rested his feet on the elegant coffee table. The furniture was obviously seldom used except for as poorly selected embellishment. The palace's interior combined unnatural elements of modern architecture; preserved vintage furnishings; and dark, battered decorations.

Atop a curved staircase, a figure silently emerged from the shadows. The light revealed a teen with sandy blond hair and emerald eyes that seem to glow. After a single glance at the visitor, the new character exclaimed, "Cindy!" and slid down the handrail with a graceful landing.

"Tonya!" Cindeo replied as leapt to his feet and ran to embrace his friend.

Tonraq grimaced at the hug. "Let me go! Geez Cindy, why are you such a girl?"

"You know you've missed it! I don't think I could live without me for two entire years," he said into Tonraq's chest before finally releasing his friend from his death-hold of a hug.

"I see you're still as self-confident as always. I've missed you, Cindeo."

"Gross, and you call me the girl? I should really beat you up for that. We have more important matters though, so I'll let you off _this once_."

"I'll try to remember that," Tonraq replied with a chuckle.

Casually the two boys made their way into the woods that surrounded the palace. Tonraq took out a pokeball and released a short, humanoid creature with a dark purple body and gemstone eyes.

"Hey, it's Sableye! How are you doing old buddy?" The Pokemon seemed to remember its previous trainer as it happily pawed at Cindeo.

"He's been doing great. He just learned shadow claw and power gem. Sableye, go make sure we don't have any unwanted eavesdroppers," Tonraq instructed. The monster nodded and slinked off into the trees' shadows. "Where were we?"

Cindeo took a deep breath before he started. "Tonraq, I know you're good, but I need to know you're not doing anything stupid."

Tonraq's expression hardened. "You really get down to business these days. What would we be considering 'stupid' here?"

He gave another sigh. "You have a lot of power since your grandpa died. The other elemental governments are growing restless. Everyone has these huge, grand ideas of domination and expansion through picking off whoever they have an advantage over. I need to know you've kept your level-headedness." Cindeo nearly plead the latter.

Hesitating with his answer, Tonraq further wrinkled his eye brows but recovered by smoothing his expression out completely. "Apparently a few things can change in a couple years, but I can assure you that one thing can't: I would never abuse the people _or_ Pokemon who depend on me." His expression turned grim by the end of his statement.

Despite his friend's somber mood, Cindeo unleashed his signature grin that spread across his entire face and gave a few small hops in excitement. "Thanks goodness! I knew I had nothing to worry about! Congrats, you passed the first test; now for the real part: you need to join our rebellion group!"

"Your rebellion group? You mean those random populations of people who complain about the Type Governments? You know, some of us leaders actually give a crap. My region thrives better than any non-elemental political system could hope to be managed." The hostility in his voice was growing.

_Uh oh, struck a nerve. _"You know that's not what I mean! We fear that war is about to break out and innocent lives will be lost. We need all the help we can get to defuse this powder keg! I'm sure after that all of the governments will be calm down and realize the compromises needed to keep peace. Come on, we need all the powers we can get to fix this."

Tonraq pondered the idea for a minute and gave a retort after a burdened sigh. "Cind, this big save-the-day, hero thing is _your_ thing. I need to think about my region. The ghosts have never been big players in the world's politics and current events. We don't live like the rest of the world does."

"Don't forget who you're talking to," Cindeo muttered bitterly.

"I haven't forgotten. I also remember your flee to decide your own views. Listen, your ideas just aren't for me. I can't come aid you in your adventure chasing a rumored threat. And don't try to persuade me: even if I wanted to, I have an entire kingdom to take care of. You probably have more pressing matters than this little reunion to attend to, too, don't you?"

Cindeo grumpily kicked at some dirt. "Yeah."

"We'll have to find a less hectic time to catch up more. Cheer up, Cindy. Things have their own way of working themselves out. You'll see," Tonraq promised with forced cheerfulness. "I think this will have to be it for now though. See you around, ok?"

Cindeo finally looked up at his friend gave a hopeful smile. "Yeah. See ya." He stood for a while as he watched his friend walk toward the purple palace. Trying to ignore his disappointment, he too headed to his own destination. _One out of three successes. I guess this wasn't a complete disaster. Still.._

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That's it for the majorly updated chapters. Let me know what you think! Thanks everyone.


	4. Chapter 4: A New Sunrise

**PokeGov I**

This chapter introduces new characters. Enjoy!

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"This is pretty neat, but honestly I was expecting more," a female voice spoke doubtfully. The voice was tough yet girly.

"Ok, first: this is _very_ neat. And second, this isn't what I was talking about," a second female replied. This voice spoke with a slight rasp to it.

The two sat in a small canoe placed in the center of a black abyss of nothingness. Struggling to wake up, the sky slowly allowed its shade to lighten from midnight blue.

The first voice yawned deeply. "Well when is this really cool thing going to happen? Did we really have to get up so early?"

The second voice returned with enthused reassurance. "This is part of the experience! We're extremely lucky to even be here on the right night when the moon is hidden! Trust me; it'll be like nothing you've ever seen. When have I ever been wrong?"

Out of the darkness, a sigh further disturbed the silence. "Alright, alright. Don't break your all-knowing streak for me on this one, or else you'll experience a whole new meaning of 'cranky.'"

"Just chill. It's not often that you get to feel so lost in nothingness. Being trapped all alone: it's so liberating!" The slightly raspy voice grew dreamy.

"And no one is as casually morbid as you are either," the original voice muttered inaudibly, still skeptical.

Time passed silently with the exception small surges of water against the canoe. The horizon continued to gradually give way to lighter shades of blue. Likewise, the water lost its hopeless blackness to a growing ocean blue. The expanding visibility revealed the two figures on the metal watercraft: one of the girls was sitting on the floor of the canoe, slouching against its back corner; the other girl was leaning over the front of the boat in attempt to get the best view possible with a pleased Banette in her lap. The slouching teen had dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, dark brown eyes, and an unimpressed expression that was too stubborn to reveal anything but vague interest. She had an orange tank-top that showed off her tan, lean, muscular arms. Her sweatpants were thin, dark gray, and baggy (tighter ones replaced her pajamas most mornings). The interested teen had an extremely fair complexion which accented her deep gray eyes. Her hair was dark purple, wavy, and a few inches past shoulder length. She wore long, black shorts and a white and purple striped long-sleeved shirt. Her clothes weren't tight-fitted yet didn't hide her slender body. Both girls and the Banette were utterly fixated on their shifting surroundings.

Orange light leaked from the eastern horizon and diluted the perfectly blue sky.

"Is this what you dragged me out for? Another sunrise? I don't even-"

"Shh! Wait," the purple haired one ordered, refusing to let the moment be tainted.

A moment later, the sun finally intruded the skyline. The blonde suddenly sat up in amazement, and the other girl smiled widely at one of the greatest sunrises she had ever come across. The once pleased Banette now hid under his trainer's seat to avoid the sun's light. What once had been a vast black body of water was now a consuming ocean of fire. The massive lake perfectly reflected and magnified the sun's intense rays. For a split second, the stunned girl in the back of the boat wondered how they weren't burning alive as the immense, glowing, orange water surrounded the tiny canoe. Pokemon beneath the surface were starting to stir under the morning light. Poliwag, goldeen, quilfish, barboach, and many other sea monsters showed their heads or even flipped in the air to stretch their muscles. The canoe rocked at the wake of a few huge, surfacing gyarados who somehow looked happy with their default angry faces.

The water's burning appearance lasted a few minutes before finally subsiding and allowing the blonde to close her dropped jaw.

"How? How do you even.."

The perfectly satisfied teen in front finally tore her gaze away from the water and to her struggling friend. "See, Husky?" She asked happily, fully enjoying the other girl's astonishment. "It's definitely in my top ten. Would you agree?"

Husky finally managed to produce coherent thoughts. "Melody, how do you even find these things?"

Melody smiled a smug smile. "I told you, I traveled before all of this."

Disbelief replaced the astonishment on Husky's face. "Who are you?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Come on, let's row back to the island." Victory was sweet.

XXXXX

_Where did those two run off to? Don't they realize the importance of time in a situation like this? Now _I_ have to waste _my_ time searching for them. Oh don't tell me they're those two giggling idiots on that canoe. Sigh. _The tall young man with dark blue hair and brown eyes and his psychic bird Pokemon patiently waited for the girls to reach the dock and tie up the boat.

"Hey, Alo!" Husky greeted cheerfully, somewhat over her eventful morning.

"I'd ask where you two were, but I'm more interested in knowing if you guys have any sense at all," Alo demanded in his usual calm, disapproving tone.

Melody decided to take the innocent approach: "Of course we have sense! We didn't bring you 'cuz you're a fun sucker. See? Sense!"

Used to Melody's jocular manner, Alo ignored her response. "Don't you realize we're in the middle of a possible crisis? And today is the day we report back to the headquarters. Early morning joy rides can wait a few weeks."

"It's not like we were doing anything anyway-"

"Except for sleeping," Husky mindlessly intercepted.

Melody smiled at her friend's persistence before continuing. "Tybalt prefers to do business solo, and we can't leave here until Cindeo gets back. Besides, the sunrise here is totally worth it!"

"I've learned to expect these antics from you, but why must you pull Husky into them? She used to be so focused. You spoiled her soldier's spirit." Husky bitterly blushed at the ground as he finished his thought. "You're almost as bad as Cindeo."

"Noted. I have something to work towards," Melody said dully as she began to walk away, apparently having lost interest in the conversation.

Alo watched the girl walk away and once again noticed how short she was despite her being slightly older than he was. "And just like that she's quiet and withdrawn again. I'll never figure her out," he said with expressing hardly any emotion towards the statement.

"I just hope she figures herself out," Husky added with slight concern. "Oh, and don't you ever bring her or anyone into my past again," she said with controlled aggression. She validated her threat by punching him hard in the arm and walking off in the direction of Melody.

Alo was left alone with several theories to explain what just happened; most had to do with a certain time of the month. _I guess it's all females that I can't understand. _His Xatu nodded its head as if it knew what he was thinking. _Ah well, now where is Cindeo? _He thought before heading to the northern part of the island to see if the last member of their squad had returned. With perfect timing Cindeo had just stepped onto the shore and was giving Husky a huge hug when he caught sight of Alo.

"Alo! Alo! How have you been? Did you miss me? Of course you did! It was so cool! You should have come with me! We could have had the best time! Except for when a crazed Tentacruel attacked me. I barely dodged his poison sting attack thanks to Jesto. Hey, why haven't we always used water Pokemon? They make travel so fast! I think I'm going to ask if I can keep the Buizel I rode. I already named him. Don't you think he looks like a Jesto? You should get one too!" Cindeo went on one of his energetic tangents as Alo tried not to pay attention.

_Or maybe having Cindeo back will make things worse. Hmm. Nope, he's still better than girls._ "Hey, Cindeo," Alo greeted, totally interrupting Cindeo's current thought. "I can't wait to hear of your tripa, Tybalt will want to hear your report as soon as possible. I think we should go find him now that you're back, so we can all leave."

"But I haven't gotten to explore Nilopal yet! No fair, everyone knows this is the coolest island around! But my trip was cool. Not at first, but seeing Tonraq again was great!"

"How's he doing?" Melody chimed in out of nowhere.

Both Cindeo and Alo jumped at the unexpected presence.

"Melody!" Cindeo greeted excitedly. "I missed you so much! You want to know about Tonraq?"

"Good to have you back, Cindy. He's the Ghost Type Rep, right? I have a ghost Pokemon, remember? He likes to keep updated on home."

"Oh yeah! How is Bandit? Tonraq is the same old Tonraq that I know and love! Except for being the leader of the Ghost Gov now and everything.. But he makes a great leader; I can just tell!"

Melody smiled, but it was someone else who spoke next. "So I assume the ghosts aren't acting up?" It was Tybalt. He had a simple yet profound appearance. He had simple brown hair with brown eyes but had an air of superiority. His face was both hard and handsome.

With now awkward enthusiasm, Cindeo greeted the final group member: "What's up, Ty?!" Uh, yeah. The ghosts are good. Well not good, but more neutral.."

"They're not going to assist us? I thought Tonraq was your close friend." Tybalt's tone was his usual authoritative and on the verge of harsh. The other members of the group knew better than to take his insensitivity personally: he had a lot of pressure placed on him as the leader of Team Antidote's operations' group.

"It's no good. I don't think he thinks he's ready to do any more than just lead his kingdom yet," Cindeo said nervously in attempted defense for his friend.

"And ghosts traditionally stay out of conflicts that don't have to involve them. You already know this," Melody added with a surprising hardness to her voice.

"Fine. What's the status on the Dark Nation?" Tybalt didn't really ask the question.

Cindeo hesitated as his cheerfulness drained from his being. "They're up to something. I confirmed that they aren't after the Ghost Gov, but I don't see why they would go after anyone else. Maybe Psychic, but Ice and Electric are closer.."

Tybalt seemed unfazed by the problematic news. "Alright, well we still need to get reports from those nations. Maybe once we obtain those reports, we'll have a clearer picture of what's going on. In the meantime, we need to head to Headquarters to establish our ground. Water has offered us temporary use of the rivers and permission for each of us to choose a water Pokemon from their breeding lake to keep. If you're going to pick one, hurry; we need to get going."

Cindeo was the first to rejoice. "Yay! I pick Jesto!"

Melody already had a Crawdaunt, Alo had a Xatu to fly with, and Tybalt flew with his Staraptor; but Cindeo and Husky took advantage of the gracious offer: Cindeo with his Jesto, and Husky with a recently evolved Poliwhirl who had an attitude problem.

"Alright! Harmonize, Normal Nation, here we come!" Cindeo exclaimed, apparently forgetting about his disappointment from not exploring Nilopal.

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What does everyone think of the team? Oh, and I posted a drawn map of the giant continent on my profile (forgive my lack of artistic abilities).


	5. Chapter 5: A Reasonable Trade Off

**PokeGov I**

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The building for the Headquarters of Team Antidote, the organization created to fight oppression of the Type Governments, was a modest building in a city full of large businesses and corporations; it wasn't the smallest building though, so it blended in pretty well. To avoid suspicion of a strange group of kids going into a random building, only Tybalt and Cindeo went in to give reports of the Water, Dark, and Ghost Nations. The other members went to a park used for Pokemon battles: Husky wanted to try out her new Poliwhirl.

The trainers in the park were mostly normal trainers with the occasional trainers from nearby nations like water, electric, fighting, flying, or grass. The further away the region was, the rarer the trainer was. Despite the rarity of outsiders, Normal Nation was the most diverse nation on the continent due to their neutral policies; other nations were exclusive and untrusting of outsiders.

"Poliwhirl, use double slap!" Husky ordered against an opponent's Loudred. The battle had been going on for a few minutes already, and both Pokemon were starting to tire, though Poliwhirl was far too proud to let it show.

The large, box-like creature with a huge mouth tried and lollipop ears tried to jump out of the way, but the smaller swirl Pokemon with gloved fists anticipated the dodge.

Loudred stumbled back from the hit, and his trainer clenched his fists. He knew it was far from over though. "Loudred, supersonic!"

Slightly after the boy's order, Husky also gave an attack, "Try your new bubblebeam!"

As Poliwhirl focused his attack, the loud voice Pokemon launched his supersonic at his momentarily stationary opponent. The confusion set in right as the swirl monster released his bubble attack. At first the bubbles were shot at the ground, shooting its user into the air. Poliwhirl, still confused, continued the attack as he flipped in the air, sending explosive bubbles in all directions. The line of attack crossed Husky, and she was knocked to the ground with a grunt. The Pokemon made a complete flip in the air, and the attack finally landed on the Loudred with a critical hit. Loudred flew back into its trainer, unconscious.

Husky lifted herself off the ground with some effort and ran to her Pokemon, who was now lying on the ground and running out of bubbles. "You did it, Poliwhirl! I'm so proud of you. You're amazing!"

Poliwhirl gave the first smile that Husky had seen from it. "Poli-whirl," it replied happily and tiredly as he let a red laser take him into his pokeball.

The opponent boy approached Husky after returning his own Pokemon to its ball. "Hey, great battle. Your Poliwhirl is really something. I can tell you're a really great trainer." He seemed to blush slightly at saying this.

"Uh, thank you. You have a great Pokemon yourself. It was a close battle," she replied objectively.

"Um, anyway, here are your winnings. Maybe we'll meet again sometime, and then we could have a rematch something," he suggested hopefully and handed her a few pokedollars. "See you!" And he ran off with a wave.

Husky walked toward her mostly dispersed audience where Alo and Melody had been watching. They were standing at the edge of a field of grass with fountains and benches spread tastefully about the hills. The battle had taken place on the wide, stone sidewalks.

"Good match. You connected with Poliwhirl really well for your first battle with him," Alo complimented.

"And you connected with that trainer really well for your first battle with him," Melody added, imitating Alo's tone.

"Oh shut up," Husky fired at Melody. "But yeah, Poliwhirl is amazing. He's not up to par with my other Pokemon yet, but I can tell he's going to be a great addition to my team."

"You should still train your other Pokemon too. In fact we all should," Alo suggested. "Melody, you up for a battle?"

"Na, crushing you just gives my Pokemon ego trips," Melody replied simply.

"And it's too unfair to place my fighting Pokemon against your psychic types," Husky complained.

"I'll battle you," a new voice interjected.

Alo turned to see a boy about his age with a slightly built stature; shaggy, dark brown hair; and brown eyes with red flakes in them. "I'm not sure you'll want to; my Pokemon are pretty high level," Alo tried to dismiss him politely.

"I think we can handle it. How 'bout a one-on-one?"

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you.."

"Mmk. I'm Daniel, by the way."

"Daniel? That's a weird name. I'm Alo. I hope you know what you're doing. Let's get this started!" Bother trainers walked to opposite sides of an imaginary battle field. "Go, Hypno!" Alo released a yellow humanoid monster with a big nose, pointed ears, a white-furred neck, and a pendulum in his hand.

"Another psychic type. Perfect. Let's go, Froslass!" The Froslass was a floating, masked creature that appeared to wear a kimono with arms that hung off its head like long, white ribbon.

Everyone raised their eyebrows at the rare Pokemon: Ice trainers were rare, and Froslass was rare even in ice regions. Husky spoke from the audience,"Woah, what's that?"

"This is Froslass. She's ice and ghost type, in case you weren't already aware. And she packs a punch: Froslass, ice shard!" Daniel commanded.

Alo was quick to react, "deflect the shards with psybeam!" Right before the ice impaled him, Hypno managed to shoot his psybeam at them, creating a shower of glimmering ice crystals and rainbows. The sight would have been beautiful to sit and watch, but the battle did not hesitate.

"Froslass, use confuse ray!"

"Dodge and use psybeam again."

Hypno successfully eluded the attack and landed its own. The kimono monster took a good amount of damage but spent no time recovering.

"Time for ominous wind!" commanded Daniel. Froslass focused as Hypno was ordered to use a zen headbutt. Hypno was too slow, for the repulsive wind was super effective against him and stunted his attack.

"Try zen headbutt again!" Alo was losing his normally flawless, cool composure. The zen headbutt barely made contact with the much quicker opponent, but a second ice shard knocked Hypno to the ground. Both Pokemon were getting weak: they were dealing and being dealt powerful moves.

"How are you holding up, Hypno?" Alo asked worriedly: he never wanted to unnecessarily push his Pokemon too far.

"Hypno!" it gained new strength from his trainer's concern.

"Alright, one more psybeam! Go!"

"One more ominous wind!"

The hypnosis Pokemon's beam hit, but not before snow Pokemon summoned the repulsive wind again. Froslass flew backwards, and Hypno was sent to the ground again. Froslass took a small moment to catch her breath. As Hypno struggled to stand back up, Daniel ordered one last ice shard, and that was it for Alo and his physic humanoid.

Alo rushed to the side of his beloved Pokemon. "Hypno! Are you alright? You did very well. We'll conquer those ghosts another time, alright? Go ahead and take a long rest, bud," He said soothingly as he returned it back to its pokeball and walked over to his opponent.

"You never cease to amaze me. Thanks for pulling me out on this journey, Fross," Daniel praised his Pokemon. The Froslass hummed happily at her trainer and hugged his arm.

"Daniel, was it?" Alo asked as he approached. "It's pretty rare to see an ice trainer in these parts. Are you really from the Ice Kingdom?"

"Uh, yeah, I am," he replied somewhat hesitantly.

"What exactly are you doing here?" A trace of hostility was definitely present in his question.

"Well I, uh, decided to try out this whole 'Pokemon journey' thing. Ya know, train and get strong and that big spiel. Way better than working back in the mountains, honestly." His answer seemed fair enough.

"What are your views on foreign affairs?" Alo demanded.

Daniel became cautious from the sudden change in topic. "Hold up here, why do you get to ask all these questions? Your psychic Pokemon suggests you aren't exactly from here either. And your friend over there," he gestured to Husky, "said she trains fighting types. Who are you guys supposed to be?"

Melody decided to defuse the tension and joined the conversations from the sidelines with Husky right behind her. "I apologize for Alo's rudeness; he can be such a sore loser sometimes. I'm Melody. I love your Froslass. I have a ghost Pokemon of my own," she picked up the voodoo doll Pokemon that decided to wander over during the last fight. "This is my Banette, Bandit; and we're somewhat of a rebel group, trying to maintain balance in the Type Governments," she explained cheerfully.

"Melody! Don't spout that sort of information out to random strangers!" Alo was stunned at her blatancy.

She ignored his urgency. "Don't blow a fuse. Anyone with eyes can see that he's on our side! I mean his name means 'God is my judge;' do you really think he could be on any side but the good side? Besides, I'd imagine he could inform us on the status of a couple nations that he may have passed through to get here." She merely suggested the idea, but it was obvious she already had a bigger picture figured out in her head. "Let's take him to Tybalt."

For some reason unknown to him, Daniel inwardly shuddered at that name. _What am I getting myself into? Are they even who they say they are? Ok, stay calm: it's better than doing nothing. This is the whole point of this journey, right? Let's go find our purpose, _he thought to himself and his Pokemon."Who's Tybalt?"

Alo answered irritably, "He'll be the one who knows what to do with you. For your sake, I hope Melody's right about you."

"Ok! Let's go find him then!" Melody grabbed Daniel's arm and started dragging him towards the headquarters. "Oh, and that's Husky. She's cute, but careful: she bites."

"Stop doing that!" Husky exclaimed, barely resisting the urge to actually bite her friend at that moment.

XXXXX

Cindeo followed Tybalt out of the headquarters and tried to recover his upbeat attitude. At only twelve years of age, Cindeo was much younger than the rest of the group members and had the hardest time dealing with the rough manner in which Tybalt conducted business. _The hardest part is done with. I gave my reports. Any other nation will be easier than.. No need even thinking about it. Who knows, maybe I'll be done there for forever. Hah, cool. Then I'll live in Water territory for the rest of my life. That'll be awesome! _Cindeo successfully went from nervously shivering to nearly jumping with excitement in a matter of seconds.

The two walked without talking: Tybalt thinking of plans for their travels, and Cindeo cheerfully humming a song to himself. The boys looked anything but similar. Cindeo had his messy, light blond hair and vibrant blue eyes, while Tybalt had naturally neat, lighter brown hair and brown eyes. Tybalt was much taller, but that probably had a lot to do with his being older. Tybalt was fairly built while Cindeo was very skinny. Even their expressions couldn't differ more. They soon turned a corner and found the remaining members of the group casually hanging around the street along with an extra.

"Who is he?" Tybalt demanded immediately.

There was a moment's silence before Alo gave Melody a shove to snap her out of her distracted, thoughtful trance.

"Oh, right. This is Daniel. He's a trainer who ran away from the Ice Gov's oppression. He has reports on Ice, Psychic, and Electric," she quickly introduced. Everyone gave her a look at the new information.

"That's such a weird name!" Cindeo added but was ultimately ignored.

"Hey! I never said that stuff!" Daniel objected.

"You're an open book," Melody accused plainly, continuing her quick introduction. "You want to gain power to do something about whatever issues are screwing with your home life, you used a dawn stone from Psychic territory to evolve your Pokemon, and your hair hasn't recovered from whatever electrical attack victimized you."

Daniel was almost lost for words as he angrily tried to defend his background information. "You can't just make up things like that! There are so many different explanations for all of those things!" He hesitated as a thought occurred to him. "My hair does _not_ look like an electrocuted victim's!"

"Enough," Tybalt intervened. "Is it true that you have information about those three nations?"

Daniel paused before grouchily confirming.

"Those reports would be a significant help to our cause. What did you say your motives for travel were?"

He improved his mood upon answering this question. "To become stronger with my Pokemon."

"What kind of Pokemon do you have? We may be of some help in giving your team some variety if that's of any interest to you."

"Well, I uh, only have my Froslass," Dan replied sheepishly. "But you would help me become stronger if I told you about those nations?"

"It sounds like a fair deal to me, and I trust Melody's judgment of your character. So what do you say? Are you willing to help us out?"

A burning roar inside of Daniel confirmed the answer to himself. He smiled and nodded. "I suppose that'd be a reasonable trade off."

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	6. Chapter 6: Making Plans

**PokeGov I**

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The newly expanded team found a secluded area on a grassy hill in Normal territory to discuss business. For added security, the team sent Xatu and Staraptor to watch the perimeter.

"I think we're safe to speak here. Now, Daniel, time to cash in your part of the deal. Tell us about what you learned about the Ice, Psychic, and Electric Nations," Tybalt instructed.

"Well, uh, I grew up in the Ice Nation.." Daniel started, still trying to figure out what to say.

"Just describe peoples' attitudes towards the governments. Did they feel overworked or oppressed? Were people forced to train Pokemon?" Husky offered.

"Oh.. Alright. The Ice Gov basically doubled taxes right before I left," He started again. For a second his thoughts turned to Hannah. _I wonder how her family is holding up. I didn't say bye to her either. Oh well, she has more important problems to worry about. _

"That definitely sounds suspicious. What about forced training?" Alo asked.

"Oh, there wasn't really anything like that I don't think.."

"That's usually the most obvious sign of planning expansion. Are you sure there wasn't any?" Cindeo chimed in.

"Maybe they were hiding it all," Alo suggested. "What's the largest work industry in the mountains?"

"Most people work in the ice caves," Dan answered.

"Sounds like the perfect place to secretly make people train to me," Melody pitched.

"But that's impossible!" Daniel defended. "I think I would know if something that big were going on. My dad works in the ice caves!"

"Did he start coming home more tired and irritated recently? Did he suddenly become more passionate about politics?" Husky probed.

"There are so many other things that explain that! You are all so caught up in looking for trouble that you've started to make it up!" Daniel felt completely cornered. He groaned in his mind. _Why did I ever decide to leave in the first place? _As a whole, the group gave the flustered boy a skeptical look as if they were simultaneously reconsidering the supposed source of their new reports. No one retorted Dan's statement, which caused a different heated stress to burn within him. Suddenly he didn't know what to think or how to fix anything. His embarrassment brightened his face. _They think I'm an idiot. But I guess I am. Wait, no. I'm standing by my statement. What was my statement again? It's so quiet. What's going-_

Melody broke the tense silence coolly while smirking at the ground: "What a fiery personality. Those are hard to come by." Tybalt gave her a wary look. Cindeo was noticeably curious about her thought; even Alo showed some interest. Husky interpreted the remark as her clue to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. The comment took Daniel by surprise. He couldn't decipher her intentions or if it was even a positive statement.

"What about the other nations?" Tybalt asked, apparently ignoring the drama currently unfolding.

A curt pause followed the statement as Daniel found his way back to situation at hand. His emotions were exhausted. "They were very similar to Ice's conditions." He showed no emotion toward his own implied contradiction to his earlier arguments. "But there was a different and distinct feeling in each nation." Melody and Cindeo looked up at this afterthought.

"What do you mean by 'distinct feeling'?" Cindeo's question was uncharacteristically serious somehow. Melody looked at him with reserved curiosity. The others only gave slight interest at this new idea.

"Well," Daniel started, "I've always felt that the Ice Nation was," he hesitated. "well, cold."

"Absolutely genius. Can we please move on to our matters of actual importance?" Alo interjected in his usual serious manner. The girls and Cindeo shot him ignored angered looks.

"Hold on, pushy pants. I wanna hear this," Melody defended. "Continue."

"Alright," Dan agreed. "I know it sounds stupid, but the mountains got colder. The temperature dropped, but I always felt that there was more to it. And the Psychic region had an odd feel too. The people were upset with the government, and there was an unsettled tone over all the cities I went through; but the feeling wasn't contentious but unsatisfied: like there was a sense of longing."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is relevant or even makes sense," Alo tried again.

"Shh! Stop being oblivious to important insight!" Melody countered.

"Yeah!" Cindeo agreed. "What about Electric?"

"Electric was definitely building forces or whatever you guys say it is, but there was no malice or hostility. I even felt an air of confidence." When no one commented, Daniel became embarrassed again. "It's really hard to describe.." He looked away followed by glances at all the surrounding faces. Alo gazed almost impatiently at the sky while Husky stared at Daniel with slightly visible interest. Cindeo was lost in thought and staring at nothing, and Melody looked satisfied at the ground.

Tybalt was already done with the topic completely. "That should take care of the north then. Very well. Now we need to decide how to tackle the rest of the continent. With the consideration of time in mind, we will split into two groups and meet back at Headquarters after making our journeys. One group will travel southwest to Fighting, Steel, Rock, Ground, and Fire; the other will go southeast to Poison, Flying, Bug, and Grass. Alo, you're team leader over Husky and Daniel, and you'll go southwest. Melody and Cindeo, you're with me headed east. Now-"

"What about Dragon?" Cindeo interrupted.

"I haven't decided, so don't worry about that one just yet."

"I could help," Daniel offered timidly. "I do have an ice Pokemon."

"Yeah,_ one_. How does that even happen?" Husky asked skeptically.

"The number doesn't matter. We don't need to fight to achieve reports," Melody said plainly.

"Right. So now we just need to decide a time estimate." Tybalt had more to say, but a shrieking sound in the background stopped him mid-thought. Instantly he knew the source. "Staraptor," he breathed before racing in the direction of the cry, quickly followed by the others.

XXXXXXXX


	7. Chapter 7: Forced Risks

**PokeGov I**

The group made no delay in finding the distant hill where a figure was standing over two bird Pokemon. The little color that Melody's face had was now drained. Angered, Tybalt and Alo made slight advances to their pokeballs. They were itching for a fight, but they both managed to contain their hostility as they approached the man standing over their Pokemon. Husky shared their hostility, but Cindeo had a strange feeling about this stranger. Daniel was upset at the thought of injustice occurring, but he remained a spectator due his lack of authority in the group.

"What do you think you're doing?" Husky demanded.

Upon closer inspection, the tall man wasn't quite a man; he couldn't have been much older than any of them if he was older at all. He was wearing a worn, dark trench coat that did a poor job of hiding his filthy jeans and simple dark green shirt. His black hair was a mess and patches of mud dominated his face along with most of his clothing. Despite the desperate need of hygiene, the boy looked sophisticatedly handsome. His deep green eyes met the advancing group with a strong sense of poise. After making a quick inspection of the determined group, he gave a simple but sincere smile.

"I'm healing your Pokemon. I assume that these are your Pokemon, right?" He asked the two boys leading the rest of the group. He was telling the truth: the Clefable he had at his side was using heal pulse on the two injured birds.

"But you injured them, did you not?" Alo quickly countered.

The stranger gave a concerned sigh and glanced at the trio of Pokemon in front of him. "I did. I tried to avoid it, but your Staraptor proved to be very territorial. You two are obviously fine trainers if you raised these two."

"Who are you?" Tybalt was all about getting to the point of things.

"That's a fair question. A traveler, I suppose."

"Nobody simply 'travels,'" Husky accused skeptically, which made Daniel blush slightly

"Alright, ya caught me," he said with mock-guilt while maintaining his dignified composition. Daniel decided that something about this guy didn't add up, but he couldn't decide what was off. "I'm looking for someone."

"Who?" Cindeo quickly asked energetically, apparently really wanting to take part in the conversation.

"Someone who can help, I guess," he replied simply.

"Help with what?" Alo demanded, unappreciative of the boy's vague answers.

"Ultimately, I'd say, protecting the world."

The group tried to hide their amazed curiosity. "Do you have someone in mind already?" Husky asked with curiosity directed more to the man than the question.

"I can't tell for sure."

"How does that even make sense?" Cindeo asked while still trying to figure it out in his head.

"Even if I have someone in mind, the job changes people. Someone well-qualified for the job might fall under pressure, while someone unsuspecting can rise to the occasion against all odds."

"What's your name?" Daniel finally pitched in.

"Caden."

Alo took his turn at asking a question: "What makes it your job to save the world?"

The newly identified boy smiled at the question. "It's not quite_ my_ job, but I volunteered."

Tybalt retorted this time. "And you thought you could simply place that responsibility on yourself?"

"Well the Legend's Council backs me up if that's what you're getting at."

Caden's audience gave a few muted gasps. Cindeo and Husky stood dumbfounded. Alo and Tybalt remained wary, and Daniel just looked confused. Melody, who had taken no part in the excitement of this curious stranger, stood still with an everlasting hostile expression.

"The Legend's Council _exists?_" Husky asked cautiously. Cindeo stood close to her with an equally astounded curiosity.

"What's the 'Legend's Council?'" Daniel asked, knowing he was missing something huge.

Once again ignoring everyone else's excitement, Tybalt got back to business. "Why are you telling us about this?"

Caden patiently ignored the general reactions and addressed only the last question. He was ready to be straight forward for once. "I would like to travel with you. I believe that my traveling with your Antidote operations team would help us both accomplish what we're after."

"You think that coming with us will lead you to your sought out universe-protector? Do you even know what our objective is?"

"I admit that I'm not fully aware of the details of your operations; my decision had a fair amount of spontaneity behind it. Though, I do believe that your travels will lead me to whom I am seeking."

After a few moments of silence, Tybalt replied with an edge to his voice, "As you're surely aware, it's not in my power to deny the request of a Legend's Council member. Yes, you may travel with us but not without a close, constant surveillance of your actions. I won't allow you to put my team through any more danger than they already encounter. Melody," he addressed without facing the girl, "I'm leaving him under your watch."

"Melody? You mean her?" Caden looked at the silent character with intense hostility in her eyes. He barely tried to contain an amused smile. "You do realize it's illegal to kill a LC member, right?" He commented with a somewhat suppressed laugh. "Alright. I have no intention to use my position to control your decision. I assure you that I mean no harm to you or your team. I will gladly accept this condition if you allow me to travel with all of you. All I ask is for one chance to work with your team; if I violate your trust even once, then I will willingly leave your team as if I were never here. You have my word."

The team members looked to their leader for his final say. Tybalt unclipped a pokeball from his belt and returned his Staraptor to it. "Very well. You still have my permission. Your chances of staying appear slim though: Melody will be the one to decide when you've violated our trust, and she doesn't seem to like you very much at the moment."

_I've never seen Melody like this before. She really doesn't seem to trust Caden,_ Daniel thought. _I wonder why.._

"Yay, a new member! That makes two just this week!" Cindeo exclaimed, shattering the tense atmosphere. Daniel felt strangely relieved at the realization that he was no longer the newest member.

Cindeo continued his endless flow of questions: "Your Clefairy is so cute! What other Pokemon do you have? Where all have you traveled? Where did you grow up? How many different kinds of Pokemon have you seen? I bet you've seen them all!"

Husky was also up-beat despite the previous harsh mood. "Do you need a new pair of clothes? How'd you get so muddy anyway?"

While Caden was occupied by the lighter interrogation, Tybalt turned to Melody without easing any of his intensity. "You're usually so much better at hiding your doubts about a person. What's wrong with him?"

Melody finally broke her glare at Caden by closing her eyes. She exhaled wearily and looked back at Tybalt. "I don't think you have anything to worry about from him, though time will tell." Without saying any more, she turned and walked away to their previous meeting spot.


	8. Chapter 8: Wary Coping

**PokeGov I**

Hey everyone! I edited all of the chapters. The only major changes are in the first 3 chapters (I basically rewrote them (FINALLY)), so be sure to reread chapters 1-3!

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Excluding Melody, who had left before everyone else, the newly expanded group walked to their previous meeting spot. Alo briefly explained to Caden the objective of the rebel team, and in return Caden revealed a few smaller, exciting assignments that he had been involved in.

"Woah, how did you know to check its foot?" Husky modestly admired as they reached their destination.

"I don't suggest approaching any situation without being aware what you're up against. Tyranitar are heavily armored except for their feet," Caden explained simply.

"You walked into_ this_ situation without knowing what you're up against," Melody accused as the team took a seat.

Further amused, Caden smiled. "I knew enough to wing it. So what comes next?"

All eyes turned to Tybalt. "We're still going to get the remainder of the reports. The only change will be in the teams. Caden, you'll replace me in going to Poison, Flying, Bug, and Grass with Melody and Cindeo. Melody, you're the new team leader."

"And you're expecting a team like that to get anything done?" Alo interjected.

"What will you do, boss?" Cindeo asked after appreciating Alo's statement with a short laugh.

"I'll take care of Dragon."

"You're going all alone?" Daniel asked somewhat disappointedly. He had wanted to help with his ice Pokemon.

"Yes. If the rumors are true, then it's too risky to bring many people down there."

"Please tell me that you have some sort of back up," Caden pitched skeptically.

"Yes. I have enough for about one person. I don't expect that each journey should take more than a few days, but we should all leave as soon as possible. Plan on leaving tomorrow once you have all your preparations in order."

"Until then, let's party!" Cindeo's suggestion was met with amused smiles, but ultimately ignored as everyone got back up and headed to town.

XXXXX

Most of the team members were hanging in one of the rooms that Tybalt rented out for the night. Caden showered all the mud off of his person and luckily had a clean spare of clothes.

"Dang, I thought I was getting dark, but my tan was all dirt. Sad day," Caden complained as he left the bathroom and entered the room with Husky, Cindeo, Daniel, and Alo.

"You still look pretty tan to me," Husky offered.

"Perhaps, but I'm not nearly as tan as you are. Are you naturally that color, or do you live outside?"

Husky grinned. "A little of both. I get a lot of sun when I train my Pokemon."

"Oh cool. What Pokemon do you have? I guess I don't really know much about all of you. Where are you from? And what brought you to join Team Antidote?"

"You mean my life story?" Husky asked, taken slightly off guard.

"Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Tell me who Husky is," he requested charmingly.

"Well I'll spare you most of the details, but I was born and raised in the Fighting Country. I have my Hitmonchan, my Conkeldurr, and I just got a Poliwhirl. I left home to prove that I can do anything a guy can do, despite contrary belief."

"Wow, you're pretty hardcore. You don't seem as rough as the few other feminists I've encountered though." At this comment, Cindeo let out a laugh. Alo looked at the ground bitterly, and Daniel looked to Husky in curiosity.

Husky blushed at the ground. "Well, I may have been in the past a bit.." She hesitated. "I was really harsh and uptight. I used to get angry at anyone who ever tried to help me. I was really lonely too, although I never would have admitted it."

"Really?" Caden asked with genuine interest. "What made you change?"

"I guess Melody did."

Caden was clearly surprised, although he did a good job of being polite about it.

"She's really not a mean person!" Cindeo hurriedly came to Melody's defense after remembering how she had acted earlier that day.

Alo snorted, "Well _that's_ not true. She's always like that, just not quite as edgy. You should consider yourself lucky that she doesn't like talking to you."

"Ha! She only acts like that to you because you're so uptight! We need _someone_ to keep you in place." Husky grinned suggestively, ready for a friendly fight. Cindeo laughed out loud, and Daniel found himself smiling through all of the excitement.

"_I_ need to be put into place? I'm the one who's forced to keep all of _you_ in line!"

"Hold up now!" Caden interrupted. "You can duel this out later: I want to hear the rest of the story first."

Husky sighed and reluctantly dropped whatever insult she was about to spew forth. "That's about all there is to the story. When Melody joined the team, she helped me realize that I had already proved myself by getting here in the first place. I then realized that it doesn't matter what other people think about me anyway. Her carefree personality rubbed off on me a bit, too, I guess," she shrugged.

"'_A bit?'_" Alo pushed, still worked up from the almost-argument.

Husky smirked at him and turned back to Caden. "But yeah. And Melody really is a good person. I hope you'll give her a chance to warm up to you."

"Where is Melody, anyway?" Daniel asked.

"She disappears frequently, but I don't think anyone really knows where she goes," Husky answered.

"She always finds the coolest stuff though!" Cindeo interjected excitedly.

"Yeah, it's like she explores everywhere she goes. I think she has a thing for nature: she always knows where to find the most breath-taking scenery," Husky added.

Caden was lost in thought as he digested all of this information. Daniel thought he looked almost confused. "Maybe you could go talk to her again," Daniel offered. "She's difficult, but she's basically the only reason I ever got to join this team."

Caden looked up at the suggestion and considered it. "Alright. All I have to do is find her and make her hate me less? I can do that. And if not, I don't think she could hate me any more than she does now."

"That's the spirit!" Cindeo consented.

"I'll do it," Caden confirmed as he stood up. "I'm still expecting to hear the rest of your life stories though." He eyed Cindeo, Alo, and Daniel. "Well, wish me luck!" And he was gone.

"Melody against an LC agent: sounds like an interesting match to me," Alo thought aloud. Husky and Cindeo muttered in agreement.

"Wait, what is the Legend's Council, anyway?" Daniel asked, annoyed with not knowing something so important.

"Wow, I forget that you're such a newbie," Husky responded. Daniel was starting to show his irritation.

"Everyone has to learn sometime. And most of the public is ignorant of it too," Alo finally defended. "The Legend's Council dates back to the last days of Human/Pokemon segregation. After the Chansey Sacrifice, legendary Pokemon are said to have counseled with humans to create a law in which all species could live together in peace. This was when the Type Representatives came into existence."

"So it's named after that council?"

"No. It _is _that council."

Daniel let out a gasp. "You mean it's still around today? Why does nobody know about this?"

"The human council members accepted the responsibility of maintaining order between human and Pokemon. They conduct all of their work in secret and maintain a small population of carefully selected agents to replace those who pass on and carry on the traditions of the legendary Pokemon. Caden has most likely worked for years as an apprentice to a senior agent. He must have done something extraordinary to get recruited. I just don't get why he said he 'volunteered.'"

"It probably means he just volunteered for the assignment to find whomever," Husky suggested. "We don't know how they conduct their business."

Daniel let this news sink in for a moment. "Wait, but that means Caden's one of the best allies we could have. Why was Tybalt so hesitant to let him join the team?"

"LC agents are usually involved in very risky operations. Like when he said he is trying to save the world? I believe that's exactly what he means. And the agents seem to attract danger wherever they go. We're all probably in some sort of danger just being around him." Everyone was entranced by Alo's explanation. "But honestly, I think Tybalt was mainly hesitant to let him join because of Melody's reaction. Melody senses something about him, and it must be something big from the way she was acting. Her judgment has yet to be less than spot-on. I believe we have reason to be untrusting of Caden."

Daniel let this theory sink in. _This is serious stuff. How did I ever get involved with this risky business? I should probably be really careful now. But why am I so excited?_

XXXXX

The chill in the air became more evident as the planet's source of warmth left the sky, leaving long, orange streaks behind it. Melody sat on a grassy hill with Bandit by her side as she hugged her legs and watched the sun run from night behind the distant mountains.

Footsteps gradually came closer and closer to her until they stopped. "What do you want?" She didn't really ask the statement as she continued to watch the sky.

"That shouldn't be too hard to figure out."

Caden received no reply. "Well, I've been getting to know people on the team, and the person who's supposed to watch me is ignoring my existence. You're not very good at your job. I don't see how you've earned so many responsibilities." He was joking, yet at the same time, he wasn't. There was still no response, so he took a seat next to the girl. The doll Pokemon warily watched the boy from the other side of Melody's legs.

"This sunset is gorgeous," he pressed on. "And you picked just about the most perfect spot to view it."

"I don't really care for sunsets," she finally replied.

"Really? You go out of your way to observe nature's beauty. I can't imagine you'd sit out here in the cold if you didn't love it."

"I used to like sunsets, but now I know better." She was still apathetic in tone.

"You know better now? What, that they're actually ugly?" Caden asked mockingly.

She finally gave him a glance, her gray eyes reflecting the sky's fading colors. "Are you, a mighty member of the Legend's Council, really asking me, a lowly rebel, about life?" Her mocking put his to shame. The Banette gave a taunting laugh.

"I know not to underestimate you 'lowly rebels.' Tell me, what's wrong with sunsets?" He asked with once again no response.

Caden attempted to lightly shake her; but as he grabbed her arm, she pulled away and stood up.

"Gosh, you're freezing. How are you not always sick?"

She started walking away but called back, "same way as you: I get over it."

He quickly got up and caught up to her. This time he grabbed her hand and didn't let go. "Mel, please. Every person on the planet will give me a chance but you. I know you don't want to, but at least let me try to prove myself. At least give me something to work with."

After a moment's consideration, Melody gave a sigh. "Fine-" Caden smiled hopefully. "-I won't kick you off the team immediately." His eagerness deteriorated to exhaustion.

He sighed too. "Fine, I'll take it. Let's just get you indoors before the cold conquers your stubborn immune system."

XXXXX

Hidden within a garden's tunnel made of beautiful, poisonous plants, a Nidoran(F) excitedly woke her trainer. The trainer, lying on a secluded bench, drowsily sat up and rubbed her eyes. She had dark purple hair tied into two pigtails and lively red eyes that weren't very lively as she reluctantly opened them. Her yapping rodent Pokemon was now on her lap, licking her face.

Another rodent Pokemon, Nidorino, interrupted their moment by using a poison sting attack against the surrounding wall of plant. Several purple darts struck the vines and flowers, exploding on impact. The miniature explosions created an opening, through which a purple bat with four wings flew.

"Oh, hey, Crobat," the girl mumbled in surprise. "Do you have news? I didn't think any would come this soon.." She continued uneasily.

The bat gave a cry in agreement and dropped a letter in her lap before hanging from the ceiling of dangerous greenery. The plants grew around Nidorino's opening to once again isolate the beings from the outside world. The girl nervously opened the letter and carefully read its contents.

Her red eyes grew lively again as a grin spread across her face. "Well that's not so bad. Crobat, tell them 'it's about time.' Come on, Needa, Needo, we're having company."

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Let me know what you all think! Thanks for reading!


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